The Black Eyed Peas have ended a four-year hiatus by unveiling a new music video that pays homage to the golden age hip-hop artists and albums that inspired the group.Released to mark their 20th anniversary, ‘Yesterday’ sees members Will.i.am, Taboo and Apl.de.Ap – but not Fergie – browsing classic LPs in a record store, including Digable Planets’ ‘Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)’, De La Soul’s ‘3 Feet High and Rising’, Public Enemy’s ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’, and NWA’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’. As each record is plucked from the rack, it comes alive with The Black Eyed Peas filling in for the original artists. The song itself hat-tips several throwback tracks too.
After five minutes nineties nods and declarations from Will.i.am that he’s “taking you back yesterday”, the song ends with the MC asserting that he’s now taking us “to the future”, perhaps hinting at the musical direction of a forthcoming Black Eyed Peas project.
The group announced their hiatus during a gig at Alton Towers in Staffordshire in July 2011. As they came onstage, Fergie told the crowd that the theme park show was “very special” as it’s the “last time we’re going to be in England for a long time”.
“We want you to know that we love you and thank you for the support you’ve given from the beginning,” she said. “This isn’t going to be the last time you’ll see us.”
